Silver Lining
by Jaslazul
Summary: With only a day before Memoria, Zidane and Dagger find themselves sleepless aboard the Invincible.  But one of them has a purpose, and the other an unfulfilled promise.


This is an old story of mine that I'd originally planned to continue, but now I don't think that's possible.

* * *

They'd only had the Invincible for a day, and the feeling of impending doom it imparted to Garnet had yet to fade. She was in her cabin now, sprawled underneath the covers with sleep nowhere in sight. The room's features were lost to darkness, making it both more and less eerie. She'd chided herself several times for allowing the ship to intimidate her, but that didn't change anything

She'd been trying to to fall asleep for the last hour, but she had yet to shut her eyes for more than five minutes at a time. Maybe it wasn't the ship that was irking her, though she knew it certainly played its role; maybe it was more the anxiety over what they would be doing with it in the next few days. She'd seen the sphere atop the Iifa, and though she didn't know what lay beyond it, she knew it wouldn't be good. As if Kuja weren't enough, she had a feeling that he wouldn't be their biggest concern.

She was scared for all of them, but it was Zidane who worried her the most. Ever since Terra, he hadn't been the same. From what she could tell, nobody else had noticed—except maybe Freya, but she hadn't said anything to him. But Garnet noticed the small things, like the way he didn't rush as far ahead as he used to, and the way he would zone out and miss parts of conversations, whereas before he would be leading the chatter onwards.

But she figured it wasn't any of her business. Zidane was the strongest of them all, and he would find a way to make it through—because if he didn't, what hope was there for the rest of them?

She flipped to her other side, closed her eyes, and tried to will herself to sleep, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to do it. She only had her head down for a few minutes when she thought she heard something—faint, but definitely something—and sat up again, looking around the room.

The darkness thwarted her, and she could see nothing. Being on the top bunk made it worse, and so did her solitude. Steiner had volunteered to room with her, but had been put off when Zidane told him (_while grinning that sneery grin of his)_ that it wasn't proper for him to room with a lady. Now, she wished her bodyguard was with her.

It was getting louder, and now she knew what it was. _Footsteps._ She couldn't decide if that should make her feel better or worse. They were faint, and approaching her, and soon they were in her room when they stopped. A quiet voice called out, loud in the silence:

"Dagger?"

She let out a breath, and her shoulders sagged with relief. "Zidane?"

"Hiya."

"You worried me." She sat fully up and let her feet dangle off the edge of the bed. "What are you doing up this late?"

"It's not late," he said, and she heard the rustle of movement, now much louder—he'd been trying to sneak into her room, she realized, but after months with him, it didn't bother her too much. "And what are you doing up, yourself?"

"Well..."

"Can't sleep?"

She nodded, then realized that he wouldn't have been able to see it. "Yes."

A scraping noise filled the air, followed by the tang of sulfur and the light of a match, and a candle opposite to her flickered to life. She could see him, then, as he blew out the match and shoved it in a pocket, giving her a half-smile. He looked somber. "Me neither."

That made her frown, and she tried to mask it. She surprised herself when she said, "Want to sit?"

He blinked at her, and his face lit up. "Sure."

He didn't use the ladder—just hoisted himself up onto the top bunk and took a seat beside her, his tail thumping against the bed once behind them. She felt like she should say something, so she asked, "Is there something you need?"

He shook his head. "Oh, no. I figured I'd check on you." He looked over at her and grinned a distinctly Zidane grin. "And how could I refuse when you asked me to your bed?"

She smiled and looked away. When they first met, she'd been appalled at some of the things he'd said to her, but now, it was almost a comfort to hear his attitude unchanged, even after all they—and he, especially—had been through.

But now she knew that he, too, was struggling. It was the first time they had been alone together since Terra and Pandemonium (and she still didn't know what had went on there), so she seized the opportunity to say, "Are you doing better now?"

She could see the slight flinch, and knew she was approaching dangerous territory. "...yeah. I'm fine."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm _fine_." He glared at her for a second before sighing. "Thanks, though."

That last muttered bit worried her more than anything else. It wasn't something Zidane would normally say; it was more like him to comment on how how she couldn't resist being concerned with him. It had to be more serious than she'd thought, but if it was something that troubled him that much, it was probably best for her not to force the topic.

"Dagger."

She looked at him, but he wasn't looking at her, eyes unfocused in the darkness.

He continued, "Where are you going tomorrow?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. We have the day, right?"

"Yeah. I think everyone needs it after what happened back there." Below that, the unspoken _I know I do _lingered, and she knew no one would have heard it but her.

"Where's everyone else going?"

He rattled off a short list to her. Vivi to the Black Mage Village, Freya to Burmecia, Eiko to Madain Sari, Quina to the marsh. None of the places he mentioned interested her, and she didn't particularly want to linger on the ship all day.

"Maybe I could go to Alexandria..." she said, looking at him.

He shifted his weight and leaned back a little. "Wellll... hey Dagger, you remember the Festival of the Hunt?"

She thought she knew where he was going with this, and his playful smile made her sure of it. "Yes."

"Well, uh. You remember we had a deal?"

"I remember."

"You never held up your end."

"I know." She couldn't help the half-smile that came to her face.

He paused, as if he were waiting for her to protest then continued. "You should come to Treno with me. Trust me, it'll be great."

"What would we do in Treno?"

"I'll figure something out." The cheerfulness coming from him was a sharp contrast to that from earlier. "Don't you worry."

"Well..."

"Come on. I promise you'll like it."

If there were one thing about Zidane that always got her, it was the switch. She'd always felt that thieves and actors would be adept at donning all sorts of façades, and that it would be difficult to distinguish when they were acting from when they weren't.

With Zidane, it wasn't so. When he flirted, it was acting; when he spoke those last words, it was pure.

Part of her knew that, even if she didn't want to go with him, she would have done it anyway, just to cheer him up. That was the same part of her that had been latent ever since he'd first showed her kindness outside the petrified forest. Aside from her own wishes, she needed no motivation to smile at him and say, "Alrighty."

He blinked at her, and gave a snicker that bloomed into a full laugh. Garnet found herself laughing, too, and when Zidane stood and jumped nimbly off the bed, she felt that it was a bit too soon, but didn't protest.

He looked back at her from beside the candle, the light throwing sharp shadows on his face, and said, "Get some sleep. Don't want you all tired for your big date."

Giving her a playful sneer, he blew out the candle, and he was gone. For a while, Garnet didn't move. As she reclined again in her bed, she kept waiting for the ominous feelings to return, but they didn't, and when her head hit the pillow, it only took a few minutes to drift away.


End file.
